Ballard, a former deputy city attorney who served as Newsom's spokesperson from 2007 to 2009 when Newsom was mayor of San Francisco, was sentenced in 2021 to four years of probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanor corporal injury against his then-wife and child abuse. The charges stemmed from a 2020 incident in which he allegedly drunkenly smashed his then-wife's head into a glass door and sat atop his 4-year-old daughter with a pillow. He avoided incarceration and was ordered to have no contact with his former wife and two of his children for six years.

The appointment places Ballard on a nine-member state review board responsible for identifying and preserving California's cultural heritage. It drew immediate criticism from advocates for domestic violence survivors.

"Why elevate perpetrators of abuse?" said Ivy Lee, head of the San Francisco Mayor's Office for Victims' Rights. "When people in power do that, it shows us what they really think about survivors. And it's not much. Survivors deserve better."

Nadia Rahman, former president of the San Francisco Women's Political Committee, called the appointment "egregious" and said it fit a pattern of Ballard seeking to ingratiate himself into state political circles.

"He should not be appointed to a body," Rahman said. "This sets him off on a road of normalizing his behavior and reintroducing him to powerful political circles in California."

Beverly Upton, executive director of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium, responded with pointed irony when informed of the appointment: "Do you know which commission? The Governor's Commission on Gender Based Violence? Oh wait, there isn't one."

Ballard, who texted that he had applied for the post and was "honored" to be chosen, acknowledged the objections. "I understand where they are coming from," he said. "During my years in government and campaigns, there were times I treated an opponent's worst moment as one of my better opportunities."

He added that he has lived in California for 55 of his 57 years and is "keenly aware of the tension between our urgent need for housing and our duty to protect the places we love that define California's history."

At the time of his sentencing, Ballard was supported by letters to the court from former interim Mayor Mark Farrell and former city Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier. He later told the San Francisco Standard that his former wife had engaged in a campaign of "major lies" and that he took the plea deal to spare his daughter from testifying against her mother and his older children from further humiliation.

The governor's office did not respond to a request for comment on the appointment.

The State Historical Resources Commission reviews nominations for historic designation and advises on preservation policy. Ballard's appointment is for a term ending in 2030, according to the governor's announcement.